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Baedred Borne
__FORCETOC__ Baedred Borne is an aging warrior who serves as the Commander of Aeomayn's personal guard and his second in command overall. He has also acted as a steward during Aeomayn's governance of the Southern Pale. Before this, Baedred was a Sherrif for his village and even a Decurion in the Imperial Legion. Characteristics: Appearance Baedred is a tall and lanky individual with a taught sinewy frame despite his age. A few inches over six feet tall, he is a prime example of northern height, though not the tallest of Nords. Unlike some Nords, he was never particularly broad, and as such any thickness that he has developed is a side effect of the rigors of war as opposed to virtue of birth. Aside from the wieght behind his eyes, the multitude of marks on his body testifying to a life in battle, and not always against the mundane. The burn scars on his shield arm are a reminder of the deadric fireballs he faced during the Oblivion Crisis. When he was younger he wore his hair long and braided, but has long since cut it short, the black locks now iron grey and peppered with snowy white, matching his short beard. The stresses of war have not been kind to Baedred's appearance; his face is cracked by wrinkles, bags and crow's feet, and it is clear that he no longer feels – let alone looks – as young as he once was. His eyes are dark brown, and alter between a kind warmth and a hardness like obsidian depending on his mood, sitting underneath bushy eyebrows. Clothing, Attire and Misculaneous Baedred possesses the armour of Aeomayn’s Nordic heavy cavalry; steel plate faced with leather, supplemented with chain and scale and a green gold trimmed cloak. In regular attire his clothing favours leathers and dull blues, greens and greys. Often he will wear his chainmail tunic with his regular clothes. He possesses a longsword, slightly longer and thinner than one might expect a Nordic longsword to be, as well as a plain round shield. Personality Having fought in three major conflicts (the Oblivion Crisis, King Falhof's Reach Campaign, and the War of the Wolves), Baedred knows full well the cost of freedom. He advocates that a man – and by extension a kingdom – should only fight when they must, not simply because they can, and as a result will try to find a means to resolve conflict diplomatically if given the option. That said, he will still fight out of duty, even if he personally opposes the conflict. He is also somewhat of a pessimist (though he would call himself a realist), taking a dour outlook on life. He is not afraid to speak his mind and defend his views, even if they are unpopular. He is a very level headed man, and due to his wealth of experience and his respectable status as a warrior, his views carry a great deal of weight in various circles. His greatest loyalty is to his family: his wife Melkorka, and the five children that came about as a result of their union; Jon (24), Aedan (21), Selki (21), Ragnar (19), and Hilda (13). Although not of his blood, Baedred played a significant part in Aeomayn’s life, and thus views the man as practically his foster-son. Having grown up with very little in the way of a family has influenced him greatly, ensuring that his children and wife experience the love and security that he never had. It has also resulted in him developing a soft spot for children, especially orphans and street urchins. While he can appear to as grim and stoic as the rest of them, his closest friends know that he is a massive softie at heart. He is not profoundly religious but does hold the gods with respect, particularly Kyne, mainly because of his wife’s position as a spiritual leader. Further he has a great tolerance for the customs of other cultures – something that arose from his time in the legion – and is respectful - if not always approving - of the ways of others. Don’t let this fool you however; despite his tolerance he is a Son of Skyrim through and through. Overall, he has a very low opinion on the majority of the noble classes, as they all too often drag their subjects into conflict. However, his respect for soldiers is immense, and occasionally he will find nobles with whom he can find little fault (though will still grumble quietly about them by virtue of their class). Skills: As an officer of the Legion before the Empire collapsed, Baedred has the skills of swordplay and command, having fought on foot, horse and longship. His legion training has resulted in a slightly more subdued style of fighting than the typical Nord, focusing more on exploiting an existing opening and felling a foe swiftly rather than hammering them with blows and making an opening. Baedred is a man to whom administrative matters and numbers come relatively easily, and he often dealt with matters on [[Aeomayn Uallas|'Aeomayn’s']] behalf where the Thane was unable to attend to them himself. His time spent around books has also made him quite the storyteller. This has also translated somewhat to public speaking, though while he will indulge in pleasantries he will only do so if absolutely necessary, preferring to bluntly arrive at the point. Those skills aside, Baedred also finds himself falling quite naturally into the role of a teacher and mentor, particularly in matters of combat, horse-mastery and nautical practices. This meant that he was able to assist in training the men that Aeomayn gathered to form his expedition. Having marched from camp to camp with the legion from a young age, he learned a great deal about building, and how various types of fortresses, keeps and other buildings were made - an important thing to know when besieging one. Background: Origin Baedred was an orphan who took up the surname Borne because it was the only thing he knew about his origin for sure; he had been born at some point. At fourteen he ran away from his orphanage and found his way into a legion fort. He was then raised communally by the men and trained to become a legionnaire. When he came of age he enlisted, and it was soon afterwards that the Oblivion crisis began. The experience of fighting Daedra harrowed the young man, and he left the legion the moment the crisis was ended. He was a largely broken man from that moment on, often turning to alcohol. This all changed the day he met Melkorka, and he often says that she saved his life and his soul. He then went to live with her and her cousin Sif and her husband Malcolm – Aeomayn’s parents. A few years later he married Melkorka and they moved into a house together. Baedred bonded with Malcolm, the pair roughly the same age and both had experience fighting during the Crisis. In their village they acted as sheriffs, fighting alongside each other on more than one occasion and protecting the village from dangerous creatures and people. However, one day the pair rode off to deal with a group of bandits. Only Baedred returned. That day he became Aeomayn’s male role model, and took it upon himself to look after Sif and Aeomayn as well as his own family. Eventually Sif died and he took Aeomayn in as one of his own. From that point on, he took up a less combative within the village, becoming one of the voices of reason in yearly moots. Aeomayn's advisor When King Falhof began his campaign in 4E 19, Baedred joined his village’s warband and went off to war, mostly to keep an eye on the younger members who had joined, specifically Aeomayn. He served as Aeomayn's second both during the Reach Campaign and the War of the Wolves. Though Aeomayn undoubtly was the one in the spotlight, Baedred's abilities did not go unnoticed, and he was able to earn a great deal of respect in his own right. When Aeomayn was raised to Thanedom, he also brought Baedred into the world of minor nobility, effectively making him and his family part of the Nordic gentry. Not only did he serve as the commander of Aeomayn’s personal guard, but he also acted as the Thane’s steward. He was well liked among the courts of the Pale, and his own rise to a position of authority considering his humble orphan origin proved to be as much of an inspiration to the young Nords of the hold as Aeomayn's was. However, fortune did not favour them, and when Aeomayn’s title was stripped from him, Baedred and his family joined him in exile. Remaining one of Aeomayn’s most staunch supporters and friends, he helped his friend gather the supplies, men and coin needed to make the journey to Northpoint, though he was hesitant to the idea at first. Despite his opinion he remained totally loyal, and his ship was among the first to make landfall on the dark and stormy night of their landing and he immediately set the men into establishing a camp. There they waited for someone to see them, but after three days none came. It was Baedred who rode out on the third morning into a local village to gather news on the condition of Northpoint, and from the information he’d received suggested that King Daric had died from his illness. When a Northpointer delegation finally arrived a week or so later, Baedred was chosen as one of the three who would accompany Aeomayn to a formal meeting with Ser Liam Caron at the Rock of Calhar. Category:Nord Category:Commoner Category:Characters